Rocketchum
by Dragoness
Summary: I don't know if this idea has been taken already or not. I know I've used a particular plot device from this before, sad as it is. It should also be obvious what that plot device is too. PG for freaky concepts (you'll see what I mean). Also an AU fic. *^_
1. Chapter 1

Rocketchum

A/N: See? Told ya so! Anywho…What was it that I wanted to put here…? I forgot…I'm sure it was something…Ah well, I'll just make something up. Lessee…This is me once again re-using the cliché plot device of Giovanni being Ash's father, only this time, I'm experimenting with how things might have been different if Ash had grown up with TR and stuff. I seem to like those types of fics…*o.O*; Erm, anyway…Oh yeah if right now you're wishing that I had just posted a new chapter of One Heart instead of some completely new and different fic, worry not! OH (that's a really funny acronym…) is still going to be my main project, I just thought it might be nice to take a little break from all that heaviness every once in a while, ne? *^_^*; So, don't expect regular updates for this fic, they'll just come whenever I feel like it. Now I think I've rambled on _more _than enough, so I'll step back and let you read the fic now! Tat's all! *^o^*;

A/N2: So I lied about tat's all…I wrote that a/n before when I was planning on posting this on September 11, but…well…I didn't…*-_-*;; Well, like I said before, we do need a little happiness right now, so here's a fic that hopefully will bring some…*^_^*

Chapter 1

"Coming _throuughhh_!!!!" Ash yelled, pushing through the crowds of legs gathered around the counter.

The Rockets sighed and moved to the side as he rushed past them. The small boy, while always doing his best to be a nuisance, was just one of the factors of Team Rocket that they had all gotten used to. They didn't have a choice. The kid was the only son of their leader, Giovanni Rocket. If they messed with the kid, they'd be messing with some serious discipline down the line.

Ash reached the counter, which was more than half a foot taller than him, and hit the side of it with his fist. "I want a double bacon and cheese hamburger with fries!" he ordered loudly.

The Meowth who had previously been clinging to his jacket for dear life gingerly climbed up so he was leaning over his red and white cap. "Uhh…"

"…And get one for Meowth too!" Ash added.

The older female Rocket behind the counter groaned. "Whadda I look like, da lunch lady? Sheesh…"

"Yeah…and hurry up okay!? We're hungry here!"

"Yeah, yeah…" she muttered, then turned around and went to get what he had ordered.

Ash tapped his foot impatiently while he waited for his food.

"…Are you done yet!?"

"No! Sheesh!"

Ash groaned and leaned his back against the counter, forcing Meowth to climb all the way on top of his head. The crowd he had just cut in front of were still gathered around the counter and looked down at him disapprovingly. He glared up at them.

"What are _you guys_ lookin' at?" he demanded.

They muttered their responses to themselves without actually making any comebacks. Ash continued to glare at them before giving them all a sideways smirk.

"That's what I thought."

The 'lunch lady' came back to the counter and set down a dish with two large hamburgers on it, as well as a heapload of fries.

"Here ya go, kid. Now don't come back for seconds anytime soon, okay?"

"Hey, he can have seconds if he wants ta have seconds, got it lady!?" Meowth retorted.

Ash just smiled, grabbed the plate and turned to run to a table near the wall where he might be able to throw fries at the Rockets without having anyone important notice. At least, he _would _have, if Jessie and James hadn't been standing right there when he turned around.

"Wa! What are _you_ two doing here!?"

"We came to get lunch, what else?" James said idly.

"What about _you_?" Jessie asked.

"I came to get lunch too! So nya!" he answered, sticking his tongue out at her.

"So rude…" she sighed.

"He got it from you, you know," James told her.

Jessie responded with a backhand to his face.

Seeing that they were distracted, Ash knew it was his opportunity to get moving.

"See ya!" he said quickly, then tried to run. James grabbed him by the collar before he could get very far.

"I don't think so, young man…" he said sternly.

"Awww…" Ash whined, "Why do you guys always have to-?"

Jessie interrupted with a "tsktsk" noise and a twitching finger. "Wait for us. We'll sit with you," she told him, then turned to the lunch lady, "I'll have a tuna salad and a milkshake, sugar free please."

"And I'll have the fish filet!" James added.

Ash stood dejectedly to the side while he waited for their orders to come through. Meowth tapped him on the shoulder and he looked up.

"Fry?" Meowth asked, gesturing to the pile of fries on the plate.

"Huh? Oh, sure," Ash said, handing the cat a fry which he quickly gobbled up. He then proceeded to sit himself on Ash's arm and helped himself to both the fries and his hamburger.

He was almost halfway done with the burger when Jessie and James turned to them with their lunches ready.

"Come on, kid," Jessie smiled, "Let's go find a table."

"Yeah, sure," Ash mumbled.

The threesome meandered through the small cafeteria until they came to a table in the approximate middle of the room, where they promptly sat down. Jessie sat two seats to Ash's left, and James sat in between them. Meowth sat in the chair to his right and they continued to share the plate. The two of them ignored Jessie and James as they talked lavishly about the good old days when they were more than just "babysitters for junior". They'd heard all the stories before. Ash was paying more attention to who was walking around the cafeteria and where they were sitting.

"…Hey, Meowth!" he whispered conspiringly, "Look!" He pointed under the table to a male Rocket with straight black hair that fell just past his shoulders. "There's Terr…I'll get him good this time…"

Meowth glanced over his shoulder, then snickered. "Make sure ya get 'im _real_ good, Ashy."

"I will," Ash assured the Pokémon. He grabbed his ammunition (a french fry), aimed, then flung it at his target. It thwapped against the back of his shoulder, then slid and fell to the floor. Trying to hide his idiotic grin, Ash turned back to his plate and stuffed as much of his burger into his mouth as he could.

Terr stopped when he felt the fry hit him, and felt his shoulder with the opposite hand for grease. When he found it, he slowly turned around and faced the offender. Ash's face burned bright with pride at what he'd done, not fear, but he was careful not to look Terr in the eye.

"…Don't think I don't know it was you," he said flatly.

Jessie and James stopped their gabber and stared at the newcomer. Meowth's claws flexed nervously as he felt Terr's shadow fall over him.

Ash looked up at him with innocent eyes and a full mouth. "Wuh oo men?" he asked before popping a fry in his mouth.

Terr refused to buy the innocent act, and Ash remained unnerved by Terr's tough guy demeanor. They both held their ground for a few more seconds before Terr finally groaned in disgust.

"You have no idea how lucky you are that your father's the boss. Otherwise I would've taught you not to mess with me a _long_ time ago," he said coldly before turning away and walking back in the direction he had been going in the first place.

"Tough guy," Jessie commented sardonically as they watched him leave.

"He just knows who he's dealing with," Ash said matter-of-factly before tossing another fry into his mouth.

"Yeah, as long as your pop's in charge, we got immunity from everyone in dis building!" Meowth chuckled, snagging a fry for himself.

"Yes, that's true…" James said slowly, "…but if you're going to throw fries at people, you really ought to do it the right way…Here, try this." He picked up a fry, completely soaked it in ketchup, and then handed it to Ash. "If you dip them in ketchup in first, then you get that nice, long-lasting effect!"

"James!" Jessie scolded.

"What!?" he asked, "I was just trying to show him the best way to-"

"I know that!" she retorted, "But it's bad enough he does it on his own! He doesn't need your encouragement!"

"Oh, like throwing french fries in the cafeteria really hurt anyone."

"If it leaves ketchup stains, then yes! It's a really bad thing! I don't mind if he does harmless things like throwing things at people, but damaging good clothing is really despicable!"

Ash only half-listened to their argument as he rolled a nice, juicy french fry around in the ketchup. Meowth watched him silently, eagerly waiting to see what the boy would do next.

Once Ash was satisfied that the fry had picked up all the ketchup it could take, he lifted the dripping red mass, looked up at the still arguing Jessie and James, took careful aim, then flicked it at Jessie. It hit her smack in the middle of her face, then sloppily trailed down and flopped to the table.

Three sets of eyes were transfixed as the rest of her face quickly flushed red.

"…Why…you…little-!!!"

Ash laughed cheerfully as he got out of his seat, threw the fry that James had given him at Terr, then took off. "Come on, Meowth!" he grinned, and the cat Pokémon more than willingly jumped on his shoulder, if anything, to escape Jessie's oncoming rage.

"_You!!_ Come back here you little…_brat_!" she shouted.

Ash ignored her and all the other Rockets who stared as he ran out of the cafeteria and into the hallway, where he bumped headfirst into yet another Rocket. He peered up at the obviously taken aback woman and frowned.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" he yelled at her.

"What!?" she cried, "You want _me_ to watch where I'm going!? I'm not the one who was plowing through the hall like a madman!"

"You'd better watch your mouth too!" Ash spat.

"Wh-What!? How dare yo-!"

"Catch ya later," he sneered. He only paused to pull down his lower eyelid before taking off again.

"That brat's going to get what's coming to him someday…" Cassidy huffed as she watched him run off.

Ash and Meowth dashed through the narrow hallways, now actually dodging the random Rockets wandering around until they reached the training center, where Ash burst through the doors into the gym-like room which was almost completely empty of people and Pokémon. Only the odd, dedicated few and their Pokémon were bothering to work-out during lunch.

"Alright," Ash whispered to Meowth, "We have the whole place to ourselves!"

"Ta you, it might look dat way…" Meowth replied in reference to the other three humans and their Pokémon.

Ash shrugged. "Yeah, whatever…"

"Hey! Ash!" called a new voice to their left.

Ash turned to see a young, well-built guy in a white singlet and baggy gray training pants walking up to them. His dirty blond hair was styled into a crew cut.

"Ursa! Ursaring!" his Ursaring bellowed in greeting, thumping its chest with its paws.

"Hey guys!" Meowth replied.

"Hi Garth. Hey there, Ursaring," Ash smiled.

"See you got down here pretty quick today," Garth commented, "Lookin' for some good training?"

"Nah, not me," Ash said, "Meowth!"

"Wh…What!? I can't woyk out right now! I just ate!" Meowth yowled, beating on Ash's head with its fists. Ash grinned and winced as Meowth continued to pelt him.

Garth laughed, "Well, while you're here, ya might as well get somethin' done. Wanna try the shooting gallery? There's something you can do on a full stomach."

"Uh…Okay!" Ash said.

Garth clapped him on the back and the four of them headed off to the shooting gallery where they geared up and chose their weapons. Ash selected his usual handgun, and Garth, just to be fair, chose one of the exact same type. Ash didn't have the strength or grip to use one of the larger guns, and after getting accustomed to the smaller gun, he didn't want to bother to switch anyway.

Garth grabbed the small stool sitting outside the door as they went in and dragged it over to the barrier between the shooting range and everyone else, while Meowth and Ursaring opted to wait outside. Ash climbed up on top of it so he could fire over the barrier. Garth took his place at the area next to Ash.

"Ready, kiddo?" he asked.

Ash looked at him and nodded.

"Alright. Let's give this a shot. We'll start off with pop-up targets. You okay with that?"

"Sure!"

"Great," Garth said. He made sure the settings were right, then hit the start button. 

Two red lights went off, one at a time, then a green one that signalled the start. Targets immediately began popping up left and right. Both Garth and Ash were totally focused, almost seeming like different people. It didn't look like either of them would ever miss a beat.

Then the lights began flashing again. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeep. Their points were tallied up on the screen. Ash had scored and 18 out of 20, and Garth had 17 out of 20. Ash grinned and gave Garth the V for victory sign.

Garth sighed. Though no one else liked to admit it, the kid was pretty amazing. Garth even went as far as to believe that he had to be the best Rocket he'd ever trained, even if he wasn't officially a Rocket yet.

"Alright, enough with the warm-ups," Garth said, "Let's get down to the real business! Just you, me and the targets. Think your ready for some _real_ competition?"

Ash just laughed. That was what Garth said every time. Pleased at this, Garth changed the settings so the wall between the two areas was lowered and they were both on the same playing field.

"Ready?" he asked after they both had finished reloading.

"…Ready."

"Then…go!" Garth hit the button again and this time targets started popping up all over the place.

They both made every attempt to hit each target as it popped up, but many times more than one popped up at the same time or only stayed up for a few seconds. With the added factor of having to reload after ten fires, there was a very tense air in the room as they competed.

Finally, the buzzer went off and they stopped with a sigh. The score flashed up. Ash had finished with 22 targets down, and Garth with 18. Garth laughed in amazement.

"22 targets, Ash! That's gotta be a record!"

Ash glanced at him and grinned. It was more common for the average shooter to get around 15 at that setting, and it was rare for anyone to get a twenty or above.

"Man, I think that's enough for today, don't you, Ash?"

"You just don't wanna get beaten again!" he retorted.

"Maybe…" Garth admitted casually as he headed for the exit.

Ash jumped off the stool and followed him out, almost forgetting to take the stool with him. He parked it at its usual spot near the door and frowned down at the sleeping Meowth on the bench. Garth lightly punched his dozing Ursaring on the shoulder.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" he said.

"Come on, Meowth! Get up!" Ash demanded.

"Huh? Wha?" Meowth mumbled, opening one eye.

Ash formed his hand into a fist. "Think you're ready for some training now?" he asked.

Garth chuckled, "Actually Ash, I think it's about time I headed over to the cafeteria. A guy's gotta eat you know."

"But…!"

"Maybe Meowth and Ursaring can do some training later, okay?"

Ash watched in dismay as Garth recalled his Ursaring into its Pokéball.

"Hey, don't look so down, kid!" he said, "I'll be back later and we can do some training then, okay?"

"…Okay…" Ash sighed.

Garth hit Ash like he did to Ursaring, only _much_ lighter. "Catch ya later."

"Bye…"

Ash waited for him to leave, then sat down gloomily next to Meowth, who yawned and sat up.

"Now what's da matta?" he asked.

"…Nothing…" Ash answered. He held his head in his hands and looked deep in thought for a while, then suddenly perked up. "Hey, come on, Meowth! Let's practice some more until he gets back!"

"What!?"

"Let's go!"

Ash ran back to the main training center. After staring for a few seconds, Meowth jumped off the bench and started running after him.

"Heey! Wait for Meeowth!"

Meowth caught up to find Ash examining a pile of boards. He grabbed one without warning and spun around.

"Ready Meowth!?"

Meowth gave him a weary look. He'd done this exercise many times before…It wasn't one of his favorites. Ash frowned, waiting for an answer. Finally, Meowth sighed and waved a paw dismissively.

"Alright, alright. I'm ready, I'm ready…"

Ash beamed. "Alright! Here we go!!"

He tossed the square shaped board up in the air. Meowth watched it spin for a split second before jumping up and slicing it to pieces with his fury swipes. He landed and what used to be the board clattered to the ground a second later. Ash knelt down and counted the pieces.

"…nine, ten, eleven…Only twelve! Meowth, you can do better than that!"

"Do I have ta…?" Meowth sighed.

Ash picked up another board and smiled slyly. "If you can make twenty, it's all the tuna you can eat, on me…"

Meowth perked up and stared longingly at Ash with glistening eyes.

"Ready?" he asked.

"You bet I am!" Meowth replied.

Ash grinned then tossed the board up high. Taking only a split second to aim, Meowth sprung upwards with extended claws and slashed at the board.

The door to the training center slammed open, throwing Meowth more than just a little off, and he crashed through the board.

"See!? I told you he'd be here!" Jessie announced loudly.

"Well, what's so surprising about that…?" James asked.

"Absolutely nothing…" Jessie said, rolling her eyes.

The two of them approached Ash and Meowth, who seemed very unhappy as he watched Ash count the numbers of pieces on the floor.

"Only eight," he told the cat.

"Meowth…" he cried in utter disappointment.

Jessie put her hands on her hips, unpleased at how they were both ignoring her. There was no longer any trace of ketchup on her face, but that didn't mean she had forgiven him of that yet.

"Time to go, junior," she said in annoyance.

Ash stood up and got himself another board. "We're not done yet," he said haughtily.

"You are now," Jessie growled, forcing the board back on top of the pile. Ash glared up at her angrily and she made no hesitation to scowl back just as angrily.

Ash finally gave up on the staring contest and tried to pull the board out from underneath her hand. "We wanna train some more," he muttered stubbornly.

Meowth stood up hesitantly. "Uh…Yeah," he added.

"No one asked you," James retorted.

Ash turned on James. "Hey! Leave Meowth alone!"

Before James could make a comeback, Jessie grabbed Ash by the shoulders and began pushing him towards the door. "Come on, twerp. You've had enough training for today."

"But Jessie-!!"

"Let's _go_…"

"There's more to life than Pokémon training!" James added, before turning to follow Jessie and the struggling Ash out the door.

"Uhh…Even more dan tuna…?" Meowth questioned as he padded after the rest of the group.

Ash finally had no choice but to give in to Jessie's pushing, but did his best to make it as far from easy on her as he could. "Where are we going anyway?" he grumbled.

"Oh, we're going to give you a little lesson in what belongs on the face and what doesn't…" Jessie grinned.

"Wa…?"

"Uh…Dis doesn't have anyting ta do wid dat ketchup ting, does it?" Meowth inquired, walking behind them with both forepaws behind his head.

Jessie just chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

They ended up in Jessie and James's room, where Jessie forced Ash into the chair in front of the nightstand. She continued to hold him down when James secured him by firmly tying him to the back of the chair, then restraining his hands and feet so no harm could come to either of them while they gave Ash his "lesson." In the past, they had ended up with bruised shins and stained shirts when they hadn't taken that precaution.

Ash, on the other hand, was screaming bloody murder, because he knew _exactly_ what was coming next. Meowth cautiously stood to the side, for two reasons. One, he wanted to save his sensitive feline ears from as much grief as possible, and two, if he tried to interfere, Jessie and James wouldn't hesitate to give _him_ a pounding…

"You can't do this!!" Ash screeched, "You _can't_!! I won't allow it!! When my dad hears about this he's gonna-he's gonna…He's gonna punish you all!! Don't think I won't tell him!!!"

James sighed at the fiercely struggling and vociferous boy, while Jessie prepared the "lesson." "It really isn't such a big deal," he told the kid, "and I know _exactly_ how your father's going to react. He's going to tell you to quit acting like a baby."

"_I'm not acting like a baby!!_" Ash shrieked as loudly and irritatingly as he could. He then fixed a burning glare on Jessie. "Jessie's the one who's making a mountain out of a stupid ketchup stain!!"

"It's not a mountain. It's a lesson," Jessie corrected dullly and approached him with her tool of choice in hand.

"_NO!!!!_" Ash screamed, this time with an obvious hint of fear in his voice, "Don't _touch_ me with that thing!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Jessie frowned in annoyance as the child squirmed around in his bonds, making every effort to avoid her attempts to powder his face. She'd already ended up bopping him on the nose once, and he was now coughing and gagging because with all of his struggling, it was very difficult for her to make sure it was applied in the correct areas.

"You know, junior, if you didn't keep moving around like this every single time, then you might actually end up looking _decent_ after these lessons instead of like some freak of nature. Makeup is _supposed_ to make you look _better_, not worse." To herself, she added, "And you could use some improvement…"

"I'm not gonna wear make up!!!" Ash yelled, "It's for girls!!" He had his eyes shut because somehow, some of the newly applied blush had hit his eyes and he wasn't dumb enough to open them then. 

"It is _not _just for girls!" James told him indignantly, "Look, if you're going to work with Team Rocket, you're going to have to get used to it!"

"I'm never gonna get used to--!!"

He was interrupted by Jessie grabbing his face so she could apply lipstick. After she was done drawing the scribble of an outline, thanks to Ash's vigorous fighting, she released him and he went back to screaming.

"Now be careful with that on," she reminded him, "You don't want it…to…smudge…" She trailed off, seeing that it was already too late.

"I won't stand for this!!! This is cruel and unusual punishment!!!"

"Of course you won't stand for this, you're strapped to a chair. Now hold still," Jessie groaned and got out his eyeshadow.

"Wa!! Help! She's gonna poke my eye out again!!!…OW!" After recovering from the brief pain, he yelled out, "I told you!!!"

Jessie sat back in relief that she had finished as much as was necessary. "James, tell me again why we do this? It's almost more of a punishment for us than it is for him…"

"It's not a punishment for him," James said, "It's a very important life lesson!"

Jessie smirked at that reminder. "Why, you're absolutely right James…" She glared at Ash, "It's the lesson that _no one_ should _ever_ _dare_ to ruin the _perfection_ that is _my face_! Is that clear?"

"Meeeowwwwthhh!!" Ash cried, "Help!!! She might do eyeliner next!!!"

Jessie's smile turned crooked, as if she had just concocted the ultimate evil plan. "Oh, don't think you're going to get away that easily!" she cackled, "We have to give you a complete makeover!!"

"Waaaahhh!!!!"

Both Meowth and his trainer had had enough. For one thing, Meowth could plainly see that Ash was _not_ enjoying himself in the least. For another, he couldn't stand to listen to his screaming for even another five minutes.

"Hang in dere, Ashy!" he announced in reassurance, then pounced at the chair and slashed away at the ropes with his fury swipes.

Tears of joy flashed in Ash's eyes, and he scooped Meowth up in both his arms before sprinting for the bathroom. "Meowth, you're the best!!" he told his Pokémon happily before skidding to a stop on the tile floor and loudly slamming and locking the door behind him. Meowth grinned in embarrassment as Ash began to drench and scrub his face vehemently.

Jessie and James exchanged knowing smiles, and Jessie began knocking forcefully on the bathroom door, knowing fully well that it was no use.

"Ash! Come on!" she said, sounding disappointed, "We're not done yet!"

"No way!!" was his ardent reply.

The two older Rockets had to stifle their laughter. Their young twerp was so predictable sometimes…

Jessie sighed and shrugged, still sounding disappointed. "Oh well, I guess there's no way we can force you into it now…but I was hoping that you would try on that cute little dress that James picked out for you…"

"EWWWW!!!!!!!!"

This time, the two of them couldn't hide their laughter and they let it roll out blissfully. Ash glared at them through the door. "That's not funny…" he said coldly. When their laughter still didn't die down, he groaned in disgust and checked the mirror again to make sure he had gotten every little bit of the offensive gunk off of his face.

While it was common knowledge that every Rocket, both male and female, had to be a master of disguise, and that includes crossdressing, Ash thought the whole idea was _ridiculous_ that _he_, the son of _Giovanni Rocket_, would ever have to go undercover…in a _dress_! He had _never_ seen his father degrade himself in a such a way, and he wasn't about to do anything his father wouldn't do…No matter _what_ Jessie and James thought.

When he was sure his face was completely clean, he sighed and sat down with his back to the sink and let Meowth hop into his lap.

"I hate these lessons…" he grumbled.

"Yeah," Meowth said off-handedly, "I'm glad makeup don't go good on fuyw."

"Lucky."

"Yup!" Meowth said proudly, then he gave Ash a sly look, "But ya know, fer once I tink it would be kinda funny ta see what yu'd look like in a dress." He snickered, then yelped when Ash lightly bopped him on the head.

"Not even in your dreams, furball," he grinned.

"I'd be scared if dat was in my dreams!" Meowth grinned back.

"Yeah, me too."

They laughed for a bit, then Ash sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "You think Jessie put away that…_stuff _yet?" he asked.

"Hmmm…Prob'ly…"

Ash grinned again and stood up quickly, letting Meowth climb up his shoulder and onto his head. "Whaddaya say we make a break for the training center?" he asked.

"I say anyting's better dan hangin' out here!"

"Let's go!"

Ash grabbed the doorknob, unlocked it, then carefully opened it just a crack to make sure Jessie wasn't ready to pounce on him and drag him back to that chair…Thankfully, they were just chatting, with Jessie reclining on the lower bunk, and James leaning against the wall.

"Now's our chance…" Ash whispered, and Meowth nodded his approval, "Alright…One…two…_three_! Come on!!"

Ash busted the door open, dashed to the one that led to the hallway, flung that one open too, then began sprinting down the hall in the direction of the training center.

Jessie and James blinked and at the door that was swinging back to place from the impact of hitting the wall when it had been thrown open.

"Um…Should we follow him?" James wondered aloud.

Jessie continued to watch the door close, then shrugged. "Nah, he's had enough of a lesson for today. If he's not back in the cafeteria by dinnertime, _then_ we can go look for him."

"Ah, good point," James nodded, then smiled connivingly at Jessie, "That means it's just the two of us until then…"

Jessie raised an eyebrow and smiled back. "What do you suggest we do until then?"

"We could have a little fun…"

With an impish grin plastered on his face, James strode over to their dresser and pulled opened the top drawer, where they kept their most prized possessions. He lovingly drew his finger over the plastic case that held his cherished bottlecap collection before taking out what he had been looking for. He gleefully spun around and presented them to Jessie.

"We can play pogs!" he proclaimed.

Jessie sighed and smiled as she got out of bed to join James on the floor so they could play. Sadly enough, she often wondered how healthy it was for her already childish partner to be spending so much time with an actual child…aka their little twerp.

***

Said twerp was just one more stretch of hallway away from his destination, the training center. His Meowth was riding on his shoulder, and he could easily tell how the non-stop sprinting was wearing out his trainer.

"Hey, Ashy," he meowed quietly, "Dey're not followin' us, y'know."

"Huh?" Ash gradually slowed to a walk and kept an eye behind him. Just as Meowth had said, Jessie and James were nowhere in sight. He breathed a sigh of relief and deemed to walk the rest of the way to the training center, not that there was much distance left to go.

Once there, he threw open the door and confidently stepped inside. It was much more crowded than the last time he had been there with everyone back from their lunch break. Humans and Pokémon alike were busy training with the extensive array of training tools, all with one purpose, to make the Rockets who used them better, stronger, and more dangerous fighters.

Ash scanned the room for any sign of Garth, his favorite, and usually only, training partner, but neither he nor his Ursaring were anywhere to be found. With a sigh, Ash moved on to check the different sections of the training center. He didn't have to go very far before finding both of them in the sparring ground. Garth had his Ursaring pitted against Terr and his Hitmonlee. Ash ran up next to Garth to watch the battle. It looked like Ursaring was on the losing side.

"Ursaring, quick! Use your Slash attack before he can get close to you!" Garth shouted.

"Hitmonlee, use Foresight and Jump Kick," Terr ordered in his level tone of voice.

Ursaring roared in fury and swiped downwards at the kicking Pokémon. Hitmonlee saw it coming and jumped out of the way, then spun his hips around and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick to Ursaring's thickly covered hide, his spiked toes piercing through fur and skin. Ursaring roared again, this time in pain, and staggered backwards. He had already been on the receiving end of an endless barrage of bruising kicks and even punches, while his own slashing attacks had only rarely made contact.

Still, from the sidelines, Ash could see that _both_ Pokémon were tired from what must have been a long, drawn-out battle indeed, and all Hitmonlee needed to go over was a little push and shove. He quickly began tapping Garth on the arm with rapidity that only comes from being a very hyper young kid.

"Quick! Tag me! Tag me!!" he babbled in excitement.

Garth tried to ignore his small friend and concentrate on the battle.

"Finish it. Mega Kick," Terr commanded.

"Ursaring, counter with Fury Swipes!" Garth called out in desperation.

"TAG ME!" Ash exclaimed.

Hitmonlee rushed at the large bear Pokémon and extended his foot at the last moment while Ursaring haplessly tried to block it by swiping the air with its claws. Hitmonlee's kick hit home, right on the "target" that almost seemed to be drawn on Ursaring's belly just for that purpose. The bear groaned and began a slow descent backwards, finally crashing onto his back.

"_Ursaring!_" Garth cried.

"Tag me now!!" Ash demanded, practically jumping up and down from excitement.

Terr looked on in disdain as Garth helped his Ursaring out of the ring then gave Ash a slight grin before slapping his hand. Terr's Hitmonlee stood panting in the middle of the ring, his exhaustion evident through his sweat and slightly weaker stance than normal.

Ash grinned at his opponents, then pointed directly at Hitmonlee. "Alright, Meowth, go!!"

Meowth obliged by leaping off his shoulder and squaring off against Hitmonlee, claws extended and ready for battle. He smirked at his opponent. "Ready ta lose, Hitmoncheese?"

"…Hitmon…" Hitmonlee narrowed his eyes at the feline.

Terr clenched his fist in aggravation. He had _won_ the battle. He didn't need to be wasting his time with this pipsqueak and his pet.

"That's not fair," he stated, "You can't tag out in a one-on-one battle."

Ash simply smirked and replied in a loud and clear voice, as if he was quoting something he'd heard many times before, "All's fair in love, war, and Pokémon battles."

Terr only growled at the obnoxious brat who was daring to interfere with him.

"Hitmonlee, destroy that runt with your Rolling Kick!" he spat in distaste.

Ash grinned. "Like we didn't see _that _coming," he laughed, "Meowth, roll to the side and trip Hitmonlee with Faint Attack!"

It took Hitmonlee only a second to respond to Terr's command and strike out at the cat with a furious onslaught of fast and powerful kicks. Meowth leapt out of the way on all fours, then dove at the foot that Hitmonlee was standing on, easily causing him to fall foot and facefirst to the ground.

"Great job, Meowth!" Ash cheered, "Now hit 'im with your Payday attack!"

Meowth's smile curled viciously and he leapt into the air above Hitmonlee. It had taken the two of them a _long_ time before Meowth had finally been able to master the tricky attack, and they were both very proud of it. The long-legged Pokémon could only look up in horror as Meowth shot golden coins out of nowhere, pelting and bruising his opponent with the glittering missiles. At the end of his attack, Meowth landed behind Hitmonlee, still sneering at the Pokémon. The round objects were lying all over the ring.

"Betcha never tawt money could be so painful, huh?" he grinned.

Terr watched in disbelief. There was no way, _no way _he was going to lose to this runt!

"Hitmonlee! You have to fight back! Get that pest with Double Kick!"

Hitmonlee struggled to push himself to his feet, then spun around to attack with such suddeness that he only ended up slipping on some of the coins and crashed back to the ground. Meowth and Ash got a good laugh out of that.

"Hey, look Terr," Ash mocked, "Your Hitmonlee can't even stand up! Doesn't that mean that _we're _the winners?" he sneered, gesturing to himself, Garth, and Meowth.

Terr only gave him a cold gaze. "…Hitmonlee, use Double Kick," he said lowly.

Once again, Hitmonlee jumped into action, but this time he was a lot more careful about it. Once he was safely on his feet, he prepared to launch his attack.

"This is it, Meowth!" Ash called, "Slash attack!!"

The two Pokémon met halfway. Meowth found himself bruised by two consecutive blows to his stomach, but carried through with his own attack and clawed downwards from the upper right of Hitmonlee's head to the lower left of his hip. Three thick red lines appeared where his claws had been. They both passed each other after their exchange, Meowth trying ignore what he knew was probably going to bruise, and Hitmonlee trying to fight off the pain of his cuts and the full extent of his fatigue. He didn't last long, and finally, the kicking fiend thumped to the ground in defeat.

That last sound of victory was all Ash and Meowth needed to hear. They both jumped and cheered. Ash ran out and scooped Meowth and held him up for all to see clearly who was the victor.

Terr scowled at them, hatred written all over his face. He recalled Hitmonlee and approached Ash in the ring.

"You'll pay for this," he told him simply.

Ash paused in his celebration for only a second, then placed Meowth on his head and bent over to pick up one of the coins on the ground. "Hey, you can have it," he said, offering it to Terr, "I've got plenty more where that came from."

Terr growled and slapped the coin out of Ash's hand. "That's not what I meant…" he said darkly, "I mean you'll pay…with something other than money…"

At this point, Garth, who had left briefly during the match to heal his Ursaring, stepped in between the two. "Come on now," he said heartily, "What's all this about, Terr? You know you can't lay a finger on junior here without royally pissing off the boss."

Terr didn't seem to hear Garth and only kept his stony gaze on Ash for a while longer before turning on his heel and leaving the area. After watching him leave, Ash and Garth turned to each other and shrugged. Garth grinned and held his fist out. Ash grinned back and locked his fist with Garth's.

"Now that that's outta the way, whaddaya say you and me do some _serious_ training?" Garth suggested cheerily.

"You're on!" Ash replied.

"Hey, how 'bout before dat, you let Meowth get healed up?" Meowth asked.

Ash sweatdropped. "Uh, sure, Meowth," he said in embarassment.

Garth laughed. "I'll be waiting right here when you get back."

"Alright!" Ash nodded, then ran to one of the many treatment machines along the wall. Meowth hopped into it and Ash jumped up to hit the button. A soothing white light shone down on his Pokémon, then faded, revealing a healed and happy Meowth. He jumped back onto Ash's shoulder and the two raced back to the ring. "We're ready when you are!" Ash announced.

Garth smiled warmly. "We're ready right now! Ursaring, I choose you!"

"Go, Meowth!"

"Ursaring, start off with a Scratch attack!"

"You too, Meowth!"

The two largely disproportionate Pokémon dashed at each other and swiped simultaneously, each leaving a thin streak mark on the other. Both trainers smirked.

"Ursaring, time for a Lick attack!"

"Bite, Meowth!"

Ursaring hulked over for the bizarre Lick attack, but Meowth jumped out of the way and bit him on the shoulder. Ursaring growled and threw him off, then they both got back into ready stance.

"Ha! We're one for two now, Meowth," Ash grinned.

"Yeah, but this isn't over yet!" Garth reminded him, "Ursaring! Fury Swipes!"

"Fury Swipe back!"

In a rush of fur and claws, the two collided on the battlefield and slashed like mad. Claws flashed and fur flew. Finally, the two jumped back, both panting slightly. Meowth now had several cuts on his head and body, but Ursaring's heavy protection of fur was baring slightly, exposing soft underbelly and cat scratches.

"Hey Ashy," Meowth snickered, "Dat's at least twenty pieces. Where's my tuna!?"

Ash laughed. "Win this session and you'll get your tuna, I promise!"

"Awright!"

"Done talking?" Garth asked in amusement.

"Sure!" Ash responded, "Meowth, hit 'im with Faint Attack!"

Before Garth could order an attack, Meowth dove underneath Ursaring and came up behind, finishing the move with something similar to a body slam, making Ursaring fall facefirst.

"Faint Attack back!"

Ursaring growled at the chuckling cat behind him, then twisted around and lashed out with the blunt of his paw and knocked Meowth off his feet.

"Meowth!" he yelped in surprise, then snarled back at the bear, "Awright tough stuff, time ta get nyasty!"

"Slash attack!" Garth and Ash shouted at the same time.

Both Pokémon responded simultaneously with vicious slashes aimed for the other's weak spot. Both came out worse for wear.

"This is it Meowth," Ash whispered, then raised his voice, "Pay Day!!"

"Ursaring! Thrash attack!!"

"Meeowth!!!" Meowth jumped up and shot out trademark gold coins at his sparring opponent.

Ursaring barely felt the sting of Meowth's attack as his pupils narrowed to slits and he roared ferociously, then charged blindly at Meowth.

"Dodge it!" Ash cried.

Meowth yelped and leapt to the side just as Ursaring barreled past him. The lumbering bear skidded to a stop then locked on target again and reasserted his charge.

"Wa! Look out!"

Meowth tried to dodge again, but failed. Ursaring hit him head on and after ramming straight into the cat tossed him to the side like a ragdoll. Meowth wasn't about to give up though. Wincing, he jumped back to his feet, still ready to fight.

"Great!" Ash called in relief, "Now use Pay Day again!"

"Right! Meeeeowwth!!"

Garth only watched…Ursaring was out of his control for the moment…

More shining coins shot through the air, this time scoring direct head shots. Ursaring roared in pain and confusion, his attack temporarily paused.

"Now's our chance! Fury Swipes!"

"Meowth!!" Meowth yelled his battle cry, then latched himself onto Ursaring's face and began scratching wildly.

"…Yes…" Ash hissed, tasting victory already.

Garth could see it coming too and walked into the ring. "Alright, that's enough," he said casually, "You win, Ash. You and Meowth have been training hard and it's been paying off, I can see…Ursaring, return!"

"Me…owth?" Meowth blinked as Ursaring turned into red light and reentered his Pokéball. Losing his perch, Meowth dropped unceremoniously to the floor. "Ow…" he muttered, rubbing his behind.

"That's it…?" Ash asked, disappointed.

Garth examined his Pokéball with a small smile. "Well…I guess I _could_ heal Ursaring up and we can go at it again…"

"Yeah!!"

Garth chuckled. "Alright, we'll do things your way! Don't expect the next session to have the same outcome!"

"We'll see about _that_!"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Just to clear up any confusions anyone mighta had, NO, this has absolutely nothing to do with absolutely any of my other fics. That means any made up characters from there probably don't exist…*^_~*;

Chapter 3

A weary, yet proud team trodded to the cafeteria counter. There was no one around it, because most everyone had already gotten their supper and were eating it. Ash reached up and smacked the side with his fist.

"Hey! We could use a little grub here!" he yelled.

"Nah, we could use a _lotta_ grub here," Meowth corrected.

An exhausted Rocket cafeteria worker leaned over the counter to peer at the two. "D'ya wanna specify or should I feed ya the bugs from the corners?" she asked dully.

Ash and Meowth stuck their tongues out in disgust. "Ewww _yuck_!" they vocalized.

The 'lunch lady' drummed her fingers on the counter. "Well then?"

Meowth coughed something that sounded unusually like the word "tuna." Ash sweatdropped.

"We'll have the uhh…tuna buffet!" he ordered.

She raised an eyebrow. "There's no such thing, twerp."

"Oh yeah!? Well there is now!" he retorted.

"Yeah, jus' hurry up wid da tuna!" Meowth added.

The lunch lady groaned and went to the kitchen to gather everything tuna for the kid and his cat. She came back a while later with a tray loaded with tuna sandwich, tuna salad, tuna casserole, and tuna tuna. Ash took it gratefully and strode through the crowded tables, looking for a seat. Eventually, he found himself being waved over to a table by Jessie and James. Not wanting to tick them off anymore in one day, he fell into a chair besides James. Meowth immediately hopped off his shoulder and began scooping up the food with his paws, sampling a little of each all at once.

"You two are gonna eat _all_ that tuna!?" James cried in disbelief.

"Yepf!" Meowth replied through full jaws.

"Uhh…Meowth'll probably eat most of it," Ash admitted, sweatdropping.

"Yu gotta try dis, it's dewicious!" Meowth said, offering Ash a pawful of tuna.

"Uh…I'll stick to uh…this…" he replied, picking up one of the sandwiches and taking a bite.

Jessie propped her head on her hand and smiled mischievously. "So, twerp, what've you been up to?"

Predictably, all traces of his weariness vanished at that question. Ash grinned and took another bite of his sandwich before answering. "Me and Meowth have been training _really_ hard! We were out there sparring, and we were unbeatable! Isn't that right Meowth!?"

Meowth just nodded as he continued to dive into the food.

"See?" Ash said, "That's why Meowth gets all this tuna!"

Jessie and James exchanged glances and smiled. James casually rested his chin on his hand as well and asked, "Ash, are you _sure_ you were unbeatable? No one beat you? Not even once?"

Ash swallowed loudly and hesitated. "Umm…Nope! Never! We beat all challengers!"

"…Even that big Ursaring…?"

"Yeah! Even him!"

Jessie sighed in boredom. "I bet I would've beaten you."

"You would not!!"

"I could too!" James piped up.

"No you wouldn't!"

"Oh come on," Jessie chided, "What can your little Meowth do against my Ekans?"

"Meowth can beat it, that's what!"

"And Koffing?"

"No problem!!"

Jessie drew tiny circles on the table with her finger. "And what do past records say about your claims, junior?"

"…Uhh…It doesn't matter! We're stronger than ever, and I don't see _you_ guys doing any training ever!"

"We…don't need to," Jessie answered haughtily, "We're already _that_ good."

"Yeah, well maybe you guys _think_ you're pretty tough, but you wouldn't last a day outside of Team Rocket! Me and Meowth are ready for the big leagues, aren't we Meowth!?"

"Dat's wight!" Meowth chimed in through a facefull of tuna.

"…The big leagues…?" James wondered aloud.

Jessie frowned. "Ash, just what would _you_ know about the world outside of Team Rocket?"

He flushed slightly. "I…I…I know enough to know that they're tougher than you are! And me and Meowth are gonna take 'em all by storm! We're gonna be the best!"

"Bettah dan da best!" Meowth reminded him.

"Oh yeah! Better than the best!"

All previous amusement faded from the Rockets' faces. They glanced at each other, then turned to their twerp, this time with pity in their eyes.

"…You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Jessie asked quietly.

"Of course! I'm gonna be a um…What's the word again?"

"Master?" James supplied nervously.

"Yeah, that. I'm gonna be a master!"

"Da best masteh evah!" Meowth reminded him again.

"Yeah!"

"…Oh boy…" Jessie groaned inwardly, "Ash, what makes you think you can do that…?"

"We've been training hard!" he replied indignantly, "We're ready to take on anything that comes our way! Nothing's gonna stop us!"

"……Not even your dad?"

"Not even-……" He froze in midsentence.

Jessie and James looked at him expectantly. They knew they must've gotten their point across.

Ash frowned and crossed his arms. "…Of course not even him," he said quietly, "Once Dad sees what a great trainer I am, he's gonna _have_ to let me go!"

"Once he sees what a great trainer you are, he's going to make sure you stay here for Team Rocket," Jessie corrected.

"He is not!"

"Oh, believe me Junior…The boss wants nothing more than for you to become outstanding Rocket…Why don't you stick to being the best at that?"

"I already am and you know it!" Ash shouted, standing up, "When I'm ten I'm gonna get a license and I'm gonna go and become a Pokémon Master! And no one's gonna stop me, not even Dad!!"

He glared hotly at them, the frustration and anger burning through him eager to explode at them. When they opted to avoid his gaze and not reply, he couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Meowth by the scruff of the neck, while the poor cat was still trying to scarf down all the fish in sight.

"Come on, Meowth. Let's go show these two what we're made of!"

"Mmm-ff-gwa!" Meowth exclaimed when bits of tuna fell out of his mouth when he tried to reply.

Dragging his Pokémon along, Ash stomped off through the cafeteria, threw the doors open loudly enough for the everyone in the room to look over to see what the noise was. When they saw it was just the kid again, they went back to their meals with only a few glances at his watches.

Jessie slumped over the the table, half-hid her face with her hand, and sighed. "This isn't going to end prettily," she commented.

          *  *  *

Meowth clutched the last piece of tuna he'd been able to salvage and stared nervously up at his trainer while he literally hung at arm's length. He hadn't really been paying attention to the conversation, but Ash sure seemed mad about something. It kind of scared him. His trainer had always been excitable, but he had a generally cool temper. A mood like this was rare.

"Um…Where ah we goin'?" he ventured up the courage to ask.

"Dad."

"Uhhhh…Ya suwe abowt dat?"

"Yeah."

"Uh…Okie…"

Meowth gingerly licked the tuna he held in his paws and watched whichever Rockets happened to be in the hallways move swiftly to the side when they saw Ash marching towards them. It was like watching a stray Tauros wandering through the streets of Pamplona during their swap festival.

As they neared their destination, Meowth tensed, unwittingly tightening his grip on the fish with his claws which let the juice flow and drip to the floor. Once, Meowth might have done anything to stay in Giovanni's office for as long as he pleased, if it meant the comforting love and affection awarded through fond strokes and massages…but he could get that from Ash, and he'd never say this to Giovanni's face, but Ash was a lot gentler and warm. When he'd seen the way they acted toward each other, he felt disgusted. He had no reason to want to go back in there for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

"Hey, Ash, aw ya absolutely suwe ya wanna go in dere?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes."

"Uhh…"

_Geez, he's serious about this…_

Meowth started to squirm to get out of Ash's tight grasp. "Well, why don't you go in dere yowself and Ay'll just waid out heywe…?"

"No way! I need you to come with me so Dad can see how strong you are!"

Meowth finally stopped struggling, seeing that it was pointless. It always was when Ash was like this. "Meeowwth…" he sighed.

Then they were there…Ash pushed the door open without even so much as knock and strode in purposefully. "Dad!?" he shouted upon entry, regardless that his father was sitting directly across from the door.

Giovanni was also having a heated conversation on the vidphone and simply shot his son a glare and waved to shoo him out of the room. Ash narrowed his eyes and marched across to the desk and crossed his arms over the top and rested his head there, which was hard, considering he wasn't much taller than the desk.

"Dad!" he yelled again.

"Can't you see I'm busy!?" Giovanni shouted, then turned back to the screen, "Sorry, my…son just came into the room…You were saying?"

The voice on the other line began to babble again and he nodded a few times and encouraged the voice to go on.

"_Hello?_ Dad!! I'm trying to talk to you here!"

"Go away," Giovanni whispered meaningfully through gritted teeth.

"But I wanna-! Er…I have a question!!" Ash insisted.

"Hold on a moment," Giovanni told the person on the line apologetically, then glared angrily at his son. "Look, I am _sure_ that whatever it is you want to say can _wait_ until I'm off the phone! Now silence yourself!" He sighed and picked up the phone. "I'm sorry…Now…Yes…Yes, I realize would be more efficient, but have you looked at the costs?…Mm-hm…Yes, perhaps you could find a way to lower them…?"

Ash growled to himself and stood back a little, then gave up and plopped himself into one of the stiff office chairs positioned around Giovanni's desk. Meowth hopped into his lap and purred, if only to comfort them both.

After what seemed like an eternity, Giovanni finally hung up and swiveled his chair around to face Ash. His hard-lined face was narrowed in a disapproving frown which could have frozen a volcano, or at least most Rockets. Ash on the other hand, responded by doing his best to return the favor, if only succeeding in making a scrunched up frowny face.

"This had better be important," Giovanni told him icily.

"It is!" Ash shot back, "A lot more important your stupid executives!"

Giovanni took a breath in through his teeth. "They are not stupid," he said slowly, "else they would not be executives…and few things are more important than the welfare of Team Rocket."

"I'm more important!" Ash retorted, and Meowth visibly winced, knowing what the answer would be coming from Giovanni.

"_You_…" he whispered, "…are a part of Team Rocket…" He breathed in tensely. He had to word this carefully. "Your welfare is important to the welfare of Team Rocket…"

That statement drew silence from the boy, who stared at the head Rocket with true iciness, not an imitated one.

"…I have a question…" he stated finally.

Giovanni raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

"I…" Ash stared down at his dangling feet and milky feline. Determination came to him and he stood up decidedly. "I want to be a Pokémon trainer!" he announced.

Giovanni sighed. "You already are…remember? That's why I gave you Meowth…"

"No, I know that! But that's not what I meant! I wanna be a _real_ trainer! I wanna go out and collect badges and travel all over the world and compete in tournaments and-"

"You know you can't do that!" Giovanni said, aghast.

"Yes I can!! All I need is a license and-"

"A _license_!?"

"Yeah, so I can-"

"What an absurdity! You know that's impossible!"

"It is not!! _You _have one don't you!? So why can't I-!?"

"Because _you_ are staying here and training with the rest of the team!"

"But I don't want t-"

"That is final!"

"_Dad!!_"

"Don't raise your voice to me!!"

"_I'll raise it to whoever I want!_" Ash screamed, "_And I want a lic-!!_"

He was cut off by a vicious slap across the face. He gasped and held a hand to his cheek, shocked not by the slap itself, he'd been hit by others, but by the intensity of it. Struggling to fight tears of pain, he raised an angry face to his father.

"…I told you not to raise your voice to me…" Giovanni said coldly.

The boy sniffled and wiped away hated tears. "…I want a license…" he whispered, "Trainers are supposed to get 'em when they're ten, and I'm gonna be ten soon and-"

"You are only nine," Giovanni hissed.

"…Nine and three fourths…" Ash corrected bitterly.

"It doesn't matter! You are not getting a license and that's that!"

"But why not!? Lots of other kids get theirs when they turn ten and-"

"You don't know that for a fact!"

"But-!"

"There is a difficult test that you must pass in order to receive your license that you wouldn't pass anyway, and you must take it at a registered testing area, which would be _outside_ of headquarters!"

"So!? I wouldn't mind going out and-"

"_You are staying here_."

"But Dad-!"

"No buts! Just stop delusioning yourself that you'll ever be something other than a Rocket!"

Ash bit his lip, making it even harder to fight tears. In desperation, he argued the last point he had left.

"M-m-mm…Mom woulda let me be a trainer!" he shouted as tears started to fall freely at the thought of the parent he'd never known…

Giovanni went rigid as fire blazed in his eyes. "…Don't you _dare_ bring her into this!" he warned dangerously.

Even through his crying, Ash knew he'd hit a weak point and went on to exploit it to its fullest. "You know she would!" he continued to shout, "Mom woulda let me do anything I wanted! Mom woulda let me leave the headquarters, and Mom woulda, woulda…She woulda payed attention to me when I was talking to her, and she woulda-" A sharp scream escaped his mouth as Giovanni's fist connected with his face and he was knocked to the floor.

"_I told you not to bring her into this!_" Giovanni roared as his son cowered on the floor.

Ash hiccupped a few times and tried to ignore the blood he could taste and the pain which he knew was going to swell and bruise. "You know it's true…" he whimpered meekly.

Giovanni growled before taking his son by the collar and slapping him with a rough, broad hand again, then shoving him back to the floor.

"You don't have any idea what you're talking about…"

Ash wiped his mouth, leaving a smear of crimson on his hand. "I know she was better than you…" he whispered.

"That's _IT!_ I've had enough out of you! Leave here!"

Ash didn't remove his glare from Giovanni, but crawled back to the chair and used it to stand up.

"Meowth and me are _strong_. Real strong. I'm not just gonna be some wanna-be trainer, Dad. I'm gonna be a master…The _best_…And Mom's gonna be proud of me…"

"You will do no such thing!!"

"_Yes I will!_ You just _watch_ me!!"

"_Don't raise your voice to me!!_" Giovanni reprimanded him with another slap.

"_Stop hitting me!!_"

Another slap. Harder.

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Stop telling _me _what to do!" Ash cried and tried to fight back, throwing punches wildly and landing most of them, but not making much of an impact at all. Giovanni stopped his attack by putting a hand to his forehead and pushing him backwards. There was a violent silence as Ash stopped to catch his breath before charging again. This time, he was stopped by a fist. He staggered backwards and fell, but picked himself up again quickly, as he'd learned to do in sparring sessions…but this wasn't an organized duel…This was a brawl, and he was losing pathetically…He knew when to give up and sniffled quietly for a moment, before choking his voice out as his last weapon.

"…I hate you," he whispered.

"What did you say?" Giovanni demanded.

"…I hate you!!" Ash shouted as loud as could, scratching his already dry throat. Tears were streaming down his face as he screamed it one last time before stumbling to turn around and running out of the room and in doing so threw the door open so hard it hit the wall.

Meowth, who had been too scared stiff to do anything before, made no hesitation to flee after his trainer, hoping that he could catch up with him.

Giovanni held back a strained sigh as they left. His son…often more trouble than he was worth…so far…He had the strength and the attitude of a great leader, but he was not a leader yet, and until then had to learn how to hold his tongue. Giovanni shook his head sadly and trodded back around and dropped into his seat behind his desk. His hand wandered and soon found the head of a nervous Persian. He stroked it absently and stared into space.

"…You don't think he means that, do you Persian…?" he asked.

"…Per?"

Giovanni couldn't understand what Persian had said, so he ignored it.

"He must just be at that age……I know he doesn't hate me…" He gazed up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "A Pokémon Master? Can you imagine that, Persian? He wants to become a Pokémon Master…Now where on earth did he get a silly idea like that…?"

"Perrsian?"

"…I'm sure he'll get over it…" Giovanni blinked and brought himself back to the present place and time. "Now…about that deal Ichiko was trying to make…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Few bystanders were surprised in the least when they found they could hear what was going on in the boss's office from all the way down the hall and in any nearby rooms. They were even less surprised when the door flew open and a small child ran out at top speed with his tiny cat Pokémon chasing after him. As a matter of fact, there was only one bystander who took any special note of that occurrence at all.

The child took no notice of _them_. He simply ran. He needed to escape the close confines of the building, the beige walls closing in on him, the air thickening to that of haze or grime. His legs pounded the floor as he ran, adding to the pain he already felt.

Meowth found that he had to run at top speed, paw pads burning against the tile, claws slipping out unintentionally and making clicking noises in order to keep up with his trainer. Ash was hurt. Even more so than he usually was after a meeting of similar nature. But it wasn't his physical injuries that Meowth was worried about, no, he'd seen Ash take worse ones and still keep going, fighting or otherwise…Meowth worried about the words Ash had heard come from his father's lips. His dreams, his pride, his loves…all taken down by one man. Meowth had to make sure Ash was alright.

He chased Ash all the way through the headquarters to the west exit, where Ash burst through the doors and ran sobbing out into the chill night air. He stumbled down the few short steps to the grass and kept running. He didn't even look up to see where he was going, though somewhere inside, he knew exactly what would happen.

Meowth reached the door and froze when he saw Ash…He was going to run right into the fence…

"_Ash don't!!!_" he cried in horror.

It was no use. If Ash heard him, he ignored it and kept running. Within seconds, he'd cleared the small expanse of shaded green and hit the fence at full force. It lasted only a second. A white flash and crack of electricity sent him flying backwards. He hit the ground with a thump and didn't get up.

The Team Rocket Headquarters were always under heavy security. A ten-foot barbed wire electric fence circled the compound. They were put there in the intent to keep trespassers out, but for Ash they were a vicious cage, always keeping him in. The first time he tried scaling it, he was nearly put in a coma from the high voltage. The second time, he borrowed a rubber suit, but couldn't make it past the piercing metal at the top and again got himself shocked once the rubber was broken through. The third time, he had the sense to try to dig under, but hit concrete just a few inches below the surface. He'd tried to squeeze under anyway, but of course, it didn't quite work…

Meowth hissed to himself and ran to the child's side. He could hear him still making breathing noises, so at least he was still okay in that respect. As he got closer, he realized that the hard breath sounds he was hearing were actually sobbing…He ran faster and stopped next to Ash. He put his paws on his chest so he could lean over to look into his face, ignoring the static jolt he got when he touched him.

"Ash…?" he whispered. His twerp looked like he'd been through hell. He had fresh electric burns all over, a dry red beard of blood covered his chin, and his cheeks were swelling. Tenderly, Meowth put a paw to Ash's cheek. "Ash? You awright dere buddy?"

Ash choked on a sob and sat up suddenly. He visibly reeled from the movement but didn't show any signs of caring.

"It's not fair…" he whispered darkly. Anger drew itself over his face and he shouted more forcefully. "It's not fair!!"

"Ash…buddy…Cawm down…It'll be awright…" Meowth cooed, rubbing his arm and doing his best to console his young friend.

"It's not fair…" Ash repeated in bitter hate and regret, then hid his face with his fist as he started sobbing again. He held his breath, trying to fight it. He hated to cry. No one else ever cried. He wasn't a baby anymore, he wasn't going to cry. Angry, now at himself, Ash stood up and stormed back to the fence.

"Meowth! Waid Ash! Don't go running back inta dat fence again!" Meowth gasped.

"Don't worry, I won't…" Ash muttered. Instead, he walked steadily closer until his face was only inches from the wire. He could hear the strong electric hum running through the metal and feel their magnetism against his burned skin.

Meowth cautiously followed behind him, paws anxiously hidden behind his head. He stared up at his trainer, still so small in such a huge world…He looked past him, through the overbearing fence and out to the wilderness beyond. The Team Rocket Headquarters were hidden within one of the many woods surrounding Viridian City, but it wasn't located in the Viridian Forest. That one was frequented far too often for Team Rocket's tastes and the entire area was mapped out. No, it was one of the sparser woods, but it was a forest all the same…The building was surrounded by trees…at least outside of where it was surrounded by fencing. No trees grew within the actual boundaries of the HQ. It was as if Team Rocket was doing everything in its power to keep its central power from the outside world. Ash himself was a prime example. In all his life as far as he could remember, he had never once gone beyond the fence. He'd seen Rockets and various vehicles pass through the gates, but he'd never done so himself…

He hated that fence. That damned piece of metal. That fence was all that stood between him and the rest of the world…

Meowth sighed and continued to stare upwards. His gaze was eventually drawn to the white, round light of the moon…

"Ash, look," he spoke quietly, "Da moon is out and its full…"

Silently, the boy raised his head towards the sky. The full moon was one of the few things that could calm him in the best and worst of his moods. Ever since he'd met Meowth, they had gone out at nights of a full moon for what Meowth called "moon-gazing". Meowth told him once that the moon was the same no matter where you were on the planet, so whenever you look at the sky, it's like traveling all over the world…

Nearly inaudible footsteps approached from behind them.

"Ah, there's nothing quite like the moon, is there…?" asked familiar voice. It had calmness written all over it, but below that was a thick layer of tension…and hate.

Ash looked down without turning to see who it was. "…Terr…"

The Rocket smiled as Meowth jumped around and hissed, fur bristling. "Correct, bastard. Nice to see you have a brain."

"…I don't feel like dealing with you right now," Ash muttered.

"Oh, but I feel like dealing with you…" Terr replied, feigning warmness, "In fact, I feel that now is the perfect time to deal with you…"

Slouching, Ash turned just enough to scowl at the older Rocket. "What do you want?"

"The answer to that is simple," Terr replied, his smile growing broader with every passing second, "It's the same thing I've always wanted from you…" He leaned forward so Ash could feel and smell his breath. Terr whispered secretively and slowly, so every word could sink in. "I want your death…"

Ash's eyes widened. He wouldn't dare-!

Before he had a chance to scream, Terr's firm, gloved hands latched around his neck, choking out his voice and muffling his breath. Ash could feel his eyes starting to bug as his throat threatened to cave in. In panicked fury, he tried to lash out at Terr and pry his hands off, but Terr thrust him against the fence, his anguished scream unable to escape from his lungs. Terr just watched, grinning, his rubber gloves protecting him from the shock.

Meowth was quick to act. He leapt up in an attempt to Fury Swipe Terr's face. He got halfway through his plan. His added weight surprised Terr enough that he jerked Ash away from the fence to retaliate against his new opponent. However, he didn't loosen his grip. The boy fishmouthed in a desperate attempt to gather air.

In one movement of his arm, Terr threw Meowth off, grabbed a Pokéball and released his Hitmonlee. Meowth didn't waste any time trying to get around the Pokémon and back to helping his trainer, but Hitmonlee had other ideas. When Meowth tried to weave around him, he sent him flying back with a well aimed and high-powered kick. Terr studied the Meowth for only a second before giving his Hitmonlee a single command. "Kill it."

Meowth stared in disbelief at Hitmonlee jumped into the air and came down at him, iron hard spiked toes aiming to drive straight into his face. At the last second, Meowth jumped back and Hitmonlee went crashing into the ground, stirring up dirt clods and grass. Meowth glanced fearfully at Ash while Hitmonlee picked himself up and turned to prepare another attack. Ash was getting weaker by the second, his legs kicked out limply and his grip on Terr's hands was slipping faster. Meowth knew he had to act fast. He glanced back at Hitmonlee. It was already coming at him. Maybe…just maybe…If he couldn't get that piece of crap to let go of his friend, maybe Hitmonlee could…

Meowth dashed at Terr. If he could get Hitmonlee to hit him into Terr, then that would probably be enough to get him to let go of Ash. He ran faster as he got closer. Only a little further…He leapt at Terr.

Hitmonlee had other ideas. He picked himself up and jumped at the spot where Meowth was heading, perpendicular to the cat's line of flight. His foot connected with Meowth's small body and smashed him straight into the fence. Hitmonlee flipped backwards at the last second to avoid the shock. The cat screeched in pain before falling to the ground limp and burnt. Electricity crackled around him and faded. Hitmonlee stood back, watching carefully for any signs of life.

Terr grinned. "Good job, Hitmon-"

"_EKANS NOW!!_"

The ground beneath him burst open, the flying dirt making room for a sinous violet form. She hissed venomously at her victim. Terr dropped Ash and stumbled back in shock.

"_Wrap attack!_"

Ekans didn't hesitate to swing behind Terr and quickly coil herself around him and squeeze tightly, hindering any movements.

"Hitmonlee, help me!!" Terr shouted angrily.

"Monlee!!" Hitmonlee called and aimed a jump kick at the snake.

"Koffing! Smokescreen and Tackle!"

From out of the shadows, a floating sphere flew forward, spewing horrid gases in the form of smoke before slamming into the kicking fiend, throwing him back with the Koffing.

Two figures appeared, shadowed in the fresh smoke. One stood disapprovingly over the wrapped Terr and spoke to him in a feminine voice.

"Terr…I can't believe even _you_ would stoop so low…" she hissed just as venomously as her Ekans, who hissed as well at her words.

The other figure quickly knelt by the boy and held him upright. He listened only for a moment to the child's sparse, ragged breath before turning to his partner anxiously.

"Jessie, he needs help," he said quietly and glanced forlornly at Meowth, "They both do…"

Jessie's reply was interrupted by loud shouts of fighting from Hitmonlee and Koffing. Hitmonlee was kicking rapidly, beating and bruising the poison Pokémon from every side. Finally with one well placed roundhouse kick, he knocked Koffing to the ground where he bounced right back up like a soccer ball and struggled to stay afloat.

James gritted his teeth. "Koffing, it's grime time…"

Koffing spun around once in the air before spitting out a small blast of Sludge.

"Hitmon!?" Hitmonlee blinked then cried out in surprise when the sludge hit him directly in the eyes, burning at his face and blocking his vision beyond hope.

Taking her cue, Jessie reached between Ekans' coils and found Hitmonlee's Pokéball. She called it back, then spun the ball on her finger for a second before placing it on her own belt.

"Good…" James sighed. He turned his attention back to the small boy limp in his arms and gently cradled him. "It's alright," he whispered, "Just breathe. That's all I want you to worry about right now…" Ash did as he was told, if only because he couldn't concentrate on anything else. Every gasp was a struggle. James looked to Jessie and whispered, "Get Meowth."

She nodded slightly and sent Ekans a look that said, "Whatever you do, don't let up." She walked carefully and knelt down to lift up the small cat. She was afraid. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Meowth still wasn't moving…Was he…? She shook those thoughts out of her mind forcefully. No, he couldn't be dead…He was Meowth! He was a survivor…

"Meowth?" she whispered and shook him slightly. His fur was blackened from electricity, and his body was still warm, but from life or death, Jessie couldn't tell. "Wake up, Meowth," she tried again, hiding desperation from her voice. Meowth was as close to them as Ash was, and if he… "Wake up!" She shook him more forcefully. "_Wake up, Meowth…_"

She was almost ready to give up hope when she heard a small sound of life. A cough. Her eyes widened when he coughed again and moved, rolling a little onto his side. His eyes crept open, blue slits searched and found her face smiling down at him.

"Jessie…?" he whispered hoarsely, "Where's Ash? Is he…?"

"He's fine…" she told him warmly. Meowth's eyes searched her face for signs of honesty. Satisfied, he closed them and curled up in her arms, purring shakily. Jessie smiled and stroked his head. "Come on now…You two need a visit to the infirmary…" She turned and found herself looking at Terr, who was still being wrapped by her Ekans. She narrowed her eyes.

"You two won't get away with this," Terr gasped out, "When I'm through with you-"

"_You_ won't be doing _anything_ when the _boss_ is through with you," Jessie hissed, "Ekans, keep up the Wrap, but free up his legs so he can walk…James can you carry Ash?"

"Yeah…" he replied and stood up, hefting Ash into his arms and carrying him damsel style.

Jessie nodded as Ekans also followed her orders, letting Terr stand up. "Let's go…"

          *  *  *

They dropped Meowth off at the Pokémon care center first. He refused to stay at first, insisting he should stay with Ash, but Jessie was able to convince him to wait until he got better first. Even with the severity of his injuries, she had a good feeling that he would recover faster than his trainer. Most Pokémon did…

Next, they brought Ash to the infirmary and told him to rest. The Rocket nurses there quickly got to work, setting him up with a private room and treating his injuries with haste and care.

Finally, the duo was faced with the all too gratifying task of bringing the vermin to face the boss.

          *  *  *

With Ekans still vicelike around his torso, Jessie and James led Terr into the lair of the boss.

"Sir!" James called out sharply, "We have captured a traitor in our ranks!"

Giovanni leaned forward with both elbows on his desk, folding his hands, and looked at the three of them curiously.

"Terrell? A traitor?" he asked smoothly, "What did he do?"

Jessie had to restrain herself from exclaiming in fury, or showing any emotion whatsoever. "He attempted to murder your son," she said, her voice tight.

A flicker of shock wavered over Giovanni's face before being repressed. "What…?"

Jessie took a deep breath and continued calmly. "James and I had gone outside to look for Ash because it was almost his bedtime, and that's where we'd figured he'd be. He was, but…_Terrell_ was also there…He had your son in a deathlock, sir. If we hadn't seen them by the time we did, it would've been too late."

Giovanni chewed his lip. He kept his gaze fixed on Terr, like a Pidgeot staring down its prey before it swooped in for the kill.

"Is this true…?" he asked quietly.

James snapped to attention. "Yes sir! If you must see for yourself, your son is in the infirmary at this very moment!"

Giovanni sighed. "No, no I believe you James, Jessie…The two of you are dismissed…and Jessie, take your Ekans with you…I'll deal with Terrell."

"Yes sir!" they both saluted smartly. Jessie took out a Pokéball. "Ekans, return!" With that, the two of them exited the room, leaving Terr to face his punishment…

Terr stood stiffly, ignoring the nervous sweat sticking to the back of his neck. Giovanni had not stopped staring at him since they'd came in. Terr knew what was coming. He knew all to well what the punishment was for an attempt on Ash's life…He just wished Giovanni would hurry up and get it over with…

Terr had failed. He knew he had. His plan may not have been elaborate, but it had been carefully planned. All he had to do was wait for the right moment. He knew Giovanni abused his son. Everybody knew that. For most of them, it was normal parent/child behavior. Terr didn't care if it was normal or not, what he cared about was the opportunity it gave him. He waited…years…for that moment…The instance Giovanni pushed just a little too far, that would be when he would make his move. That time had finally come. He would follow the bastard outside, where he always went after his beatings, and there he'd just add…the finishing touch. From that point, he could say that he just came outside and found the bastard like that. Maybe he couldn't take it anymore and just threw himself into the fence, or maybe the boss had hit him just a little too hard that time…As for the Meowth…maybe it just wanted to follow its trainer's example…

It had been the perfect plan in Terr's eyes…he would have finally finished the job his partner had started nine years ago…if not for those disruptive fools…It had never occurred to them that they would come and stop him…Next time, he would be ready for them…but no…there wouldn't be a next time…

"Terrell," Giovanni stated. He wasn't asking for his attention. He was stating it as if Terrell already knew…which he did. Terr looked up in apprehension. "I _know_ you know what's coming," Giovanni told him. He sighed and leaned back in his huge executive's chair and rubbed the head of his Persian. "I suppose I should have seen this coming earlier…much earlier…but no…no, I spared your life, Terrell…because I thought you would have learned from the mistake of your partner…" Giovanni sighed again and shook his head. "I really should have known better…Now I have no choice but to let you join her in hell…I'll bet your anxious to see her, aren't you?"

Despite himself, Terr found himself nodding.

Giovanni nodded thoughtfully. "…I understand…" He leaned back and an unpleasant smile crept to his lips. "How fortunate for you…that you actually will see her in hell…I know I for one am not so fortunate…" He leaned forward, the smile growing wickeder. "My dearly beloved has gone a different way, Terrell…I believe her only sin in life was marrying me, the poor dear…and now where is she, hm?"

Terr's sweating became more profuse, and he swallowed nervously. Stuttering over the word, he managed to answer, "H-h-heav…en…?"

"I do believe that is correct…" Giovanni said coldly, his smile vanishing. He raised himself up so he was sitting perfectly straight. "Now why should I give you the pleasure of seeing your partner in hell, when I will never see my wife again? No, I have a different fate planned for you, Terrell…" He picked up the phone and dialed a local extension. "Hello?…Yes, I have a new member for you…No, he's traitor…Terrell…Yes…Come pick him up asap. This is what I want. He attempted to kill my son. Torture him, maim him, but whatever you do, don't kill him. Keep him alive as long as possible. Let him grow old. But he will live through hell before he goes there. Make sure of it." With that, Giovanni hung up and smiled cruelly at Terr. "Enjoy your new accomodations."

Minutes later, two Rocket thugs, dressed all in black except for their emblazoned red R took Terr roughly by the arms and dragged him off…That was the last anyone saw of him.


End file.
